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UC-NRLF 


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AMERICAN   LIBRARY   ASSOCIATION 

THE   BEST   READING,    FOR   THE   LARGEST   NUMBER,   AT  THE   LEAST   COST 


LIBRARY    BUILDINGS 


BY 

WILLIAM    REED    EASTMAN 

'I 

New  York  State  Library^  Albany,  N.  Y. 


REPRINTED    AFTER    REVISION    FROM    THE    PROCEEDINGS    OF    THE 
AMERICAN   LIBRARY    ASSOCIATION,   WAUKESHA,    JULY    3-IO,    I9OI 


A.   L.  A.   PUBLISHING    BOARD 

34  Newbury  Street 
1908 


REPRINT  SERIES 


^ 


f  r  »        m 


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••  •  •  •  •  •  ♦* '  •  ,      •  • 


LIBRARY   BUILDINGS 


By  W.  R.  Eastman,  Nexc  York  State  Library^  Albany,  N.  Y. 


A  BUILDING  is  not  the  first  requisite  of 
a  public  library.  A  good  collection  of 
books  with  a  capable  librarian  will  be  of 
great  service  in  a  hired  room  or  in  one 
corner  of  a  store.  First  the  librarian, 
then  the  books  and  after  that  the  building. 

But  when  the  building  is  occupied  the 
value  of  the  library  is  doubled.  The  item 
of  rent  is  dropped.  The  library  is  no 
longer  dependent  on  the  favor  of  some 
other  institution  and  is  not  cramped  by 
the  effort  to  include  two  or  three  depart- 
ments in  a  single  room.  It  will  not  only 
give  far  better  service  to  the  community, 
but  will  command  its  respect,  interest 
and  support  to  a  greater  degree  than  be- 
fore. 

The  following  hints  are  intended  as  a 
reply  to  many  library  boards  who  are  ask- 
ing for  building  plans. 

The  vital  point  in  successful  building  is 
to  group  all  the  parts  of  a  modern  library 
in  their  true  relations.  To  understand  a 
particular  case  it  will  be  necessary  to  ask 
some  preliminary  questions. 

1     BOOKS 

Number  of  volumes  in  library? 

Average  of  yearly  increase? 

Number  of  volumes  in  20  years? 

Number  of  volumes  to  go  in  refer- 
ence   room? 

Number  of  volumes  to  go  in  chil- 
dren's room? 

Number  of  volumes  to  go  in  other 
departments? 

Number  of  volumes  to  go  in  main 
book  room? 

If  the  library  is  large  will  there  be 
an  open  shelf  room  separate  from 
the  main  book  room? 

Is  a  stack  needed? 

Will  public  access  to  the  shelves 
be  allowed? 

By  answers  to  such  questions  a  fair  idea 
of  the  character  and  size  of  the  book  room 
may  be  obtained. 


Rules  for  calculation.  In  a  popular  li- 
brary, outside  the  reference  room,  for  each 
foot  of  wall  space  available  80  books  can 
be  placed  on  eight  shelves.  Floor  cases 
having  two  sides  will  hold  160  books  for 
each  running  foot,  and  in  a  close  stack  25 
books,  approximately,  can  be  shelved  for 
each  square  foot  of  floor  space.  But  the 
latter  rule  will  be  materially  modified  by 
ledges,  varying  width  of  passages,  stairs, 
etc. 

The  above  figures  give  full  capacity.  In 
practical  work,  to  provide  for  oversized 
books,  documents,  convenient  classifica- 
tion, expansion,  and  working  facilities,  the 
shelves  of  a  library  should  be  sufficient 
for  twice  the  actual  number  of  books. 
The  lines  of  future  enlargement  should  be 
fully  determined  and  if,  at  the  end  of  20 
years,  there  will  be  shelf  space  for  one 
and  a  half  times  the  number  of  books  as 
estimated  for  that  time  it  will  usually  be 
sufficient.  The  increase  of  books  in  a 
living  library  will  invariably  outrun  expec- 
tations. 

2  DEPARTMENTS 

Is  the  library  for  free  circulation? 
Is  the  library  for  free  reference? 
Are  special  rooms  needed  for 

study? 

high  school  students? 

children? 

magazine  readers? 

newspaper  readers? 
How  many  square  feet  for  each  of 

the  above  rooms? 
Are   class   rooms   needed   as   in   a 
college  library? 

Club  rooms? 

Lecture   rooms? 

Museum? 

Art  gallery? 

Other  departments? 

3  COMMUNITY 

In  city  or  country? 
Population? 


251697 


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By    what    class    will    library    be 
chiefly  used? 
School  children? 
Students? 
Mechanics? 
Reading  circles? 
Ladies? 

2     RESOURCES  AND  CONDITIONS 
Money  available? 
Money  annually  for  maintenance? 
Size  and  shape  of  building  lot? 
Location   and   surroundings? 
How  many  stories? 
Elevators? 
Heat? 
Light? 
Ventilation? 

5     ADMINISTRATION 

Is  library  to  be  in  charge  of  one 

person? 
Or  how  many  assistants? 
Is  a  work  room  needed? 
Unpacking  room? 
Bindery? 

Librarian's  office? 
Trustees'  room? 

By  careful  study  of  these  points  a 
clear  conception  of  the  problem  is  gained 
and  the  trustees  are  prepared  to  adopt 
an  outline  sketch  indicating  in  a  gen- 
eral way  their  needs  and  views.  While 
it  is  important  that  they  should  examine 
other  libraries  to  learn  their  merits  and 
their  faults  they  are  not  likely  to  secure 
what  they  want  by  copying  or  even  by 
competition.  The  best  architects  have  not 
the  time  nor  the  disposition  to  compete 
with  each  other.  A  better  way  is  to 
choose  an  architect,  one  who  has  suc- 
ceeded in  library  work  if  possible,  who 
will  faithfully  study  the  special  problems, 
consult  freely  with  the  library  board,  pro- 
pose plans  and  change  them  freely  till 
they  are  right.  And  if  such  plans  are  also 
submitted  for  revision  to  some  librarian 
of  experience  or  to  the  library  commission 
of  the  state,  whose  business  and  pleasure 
it  is  to  give  disinterested  advice,  so  much 
the  better. 
The  following  outlines  taken  from  actual 


library   buildings   are   offered  by  way  of 
suggestion. 

Square  plan 

An  inexpensive  building  for  a  small  coun- 
try neighborhood  may  have  one  square 
room  with  book  shelves  on  the  side  and 
rear  walls.  A  convenient  entrance  is  from 
a  square  porch  on  one  side  of  the  front 
corner  and  a  librarian's  alcove  is  at  the 
opposite  corner,  leaving  the  entire  front 
like  a  store  window  which  may  be  filled 
with  plants  or  picture  bulletins.  With  a 
stone  foundation  the  wooden  frame  may 
be  finished  with  stained  shingles 
Oblong  plan 

A  somewhat  larger  building  may  have 
a  wider  front  with  entrance  at  the  center. 

Book  shelves  under  high  windows  may 
cover  the  side  and  rear  walls  and  tables 
may  stand  in  the  open  space. 

It  will  be  convenient  to  bring  together 
the  books  most  in  demand  for  circulation 
at  one  end  of  the  room  and  those  needed 
most  for  study  at  the  opposite  end.  One 
corner  may  contain  juvenile  books.  In 
this  way  confusion  between  readers,  bor- 
rowers and  children  will  be  avoided.  Each 
class  of  patrons  will  go  by  a  direct  line 
to  its  own  quarter.  This  is  the  beginning 
of  the  plan  of  departments  which  will  be 
of  great  importance  in  the  larger  building. 

The  number  of  books  for  circulation  will 
increase  rapidly  and  it  may  soon  be  neces- 
sary to  provide  double  faced  floor  cases. 
These  will  be  placed  with  passages  run- 
ning from  the  center  of  the  room  towards 
the  end  and  that  part  of  the  room  will  be- 
come the  book  or  delivery  room  and  the 
opposite  side  will  be  the  study  or  refer- 
ence room. 

T-shape  plan 

The  next  step  is  to  add  space  to  the 
rear  giving  a  third  department  to  the  still 
open  room.  If  the  book  room  is  at  the 
back  the  student  readers  may  be  at  tables 
in  the  right  hand  space  and  the  children 
in  the  space  on  the  left.  The  librarian  at 
a  desk  in  the  center  is  equally  near  to  all 
departments  and  may  exercise  full  super- 
vision. 


The  presence  of  a  considerable  number 
of  other  busy  persons  has  a  sobering  and 
quieting  effect  on  all  and  the  impression 
of  such  a  library  having  all  its  depart- 
ments in  one  is  dignified  and  wholesome. 
It  may  be  well  to  separate  the  depart- 
ments by  light  open  hand  rails,  screens, 
cords  or  low  book  cases.  It  is  a  mistake 
to  divide  a  small  building  into  three  or 
four  small  rooms.  Partitions  in  such  a 
building  are  worse  than  useless. 

Separate  rooms 

For  a  larger  library  these  rails  must  be 
made  into  partitions,  giving  to  each  de- 
partment a  separate  room.  Partitions  ot 
glass  surmounting  low  cases  for  books 
and  possibly  only  eight  feet  high 
from  the  floor  may  answer  an  ex- 
cellent purpose,  adding  to  the  impres- 
sion of  extent,  admitting  light  to  the  in- 
terior of  the  building  and  allowing  some 
supervision  from  the  center.  With  parti- 
tions on  each  side,  the  entrance  becomes 
a  central  hallway  with  a  reading  room  at 
each  side  and  the  book  room  at  the  end. 
This  is  the  best  position  for  the  book 
room  for  two  special  reasons.  Overlap- 
ping the  departments  in  both  wings  it  is 
equally  accessible  from  either,  and  at  the 
back  of  the  house  a  plainer  and  cheaper 
wall  can  be  built  admitting  of  easy  re- 
moval when  the  growth  of  the  library  re- 
quires enlargement. 

In  libraries  of  moderate  size  the  angles 
between  the  book  room  and  the  main 
building  may  be  filled  to  advantage  by 
work  room  and  office.  These  working 
rooms  though  not  large  and  not  conspic- 
uous are  of  vital  consequence  and  should 
be   carefully   planned. 

We  have  now  reached  a  type  of  build- 
ing which,  for  lack  of  a  better  word,  I 
may  call  the  "butterfly  plan,"  having  two 
spread  wings  and  a  body  extending  to 
the  back.  Others  call  it  the  "trefoil." 
B'rom  one  entrance  hall  direct  access  is 
given  to  three  distinct  departments,  or 
perhaps  to  five,  by  placing  two  rooms  in 
each  wing. 


Modifications  required  by  limited  space 

If  we  have  an  open  park  to  build  in  we 
shall  be  tempted  to  expand  the  hallway  to 
a  great  central  court  or  rotunda.  Perhaps 
the  importance  of  the  library  may  justify 
it,  but  we  should  be  on  our  guard  against 
separating  departments  by  spaces  so  great 
as  to  make  supervision  difficult  or  passing 
from  one  to  another  inconvenient.  We 
should  aim  to  concentrate  rather  than 
scatter. 

More  frequently  the  lot  will  be  too  nar- 
row. We  must  draw  in  the  wings  and 
make  the  narrower  rooms  longer  from 
front  to  back.  With  a  corner  lot  we  can 
enter  on  the  side  street,  leaving  a  grand 
reading  room  on  the  main  front  and  turn- 
ing at  right  angles  as  we  enter  the  house 
pass  between  other  rooms  to  the  book 
room  at  the  extreme  end  of  the  lot.  Or 
again,  we  shall  be  obliged  to  dispense 
entirely  with  one  wing  of  our  plan,  and 
have  but  two  department  rooms  instead  of 
three    on    the    floor. 

It  is  always  undesirable  to  enter  a 
library  on  the  narrow  side,  because  in  so 
doing  those  who  come  to  borrow  must 
pass  between  and  around  the  tables  and 
disturb  readers.  Where  such  an  approach 
is  inevitable  the  door  should  be  at  one 
side,  not  in  the  center  of  the  front  wall. 

Every  location  must  be  studied  by  itself. 

Other  stories 

Basement  rooms  are  of  great  service 
for  work  rooms  and  storage.  A  basement 
directly  under  the  main  book  room  is 
specially  valuable  to  receive  the  overflow 
of  books  not  in  great  demand. 

A  second  and  even  a  third  story  will  be 
useful  for  special  collections,  class  and 
lecture  rooms  or  a  large  audience  hall.  In 
a  library  of  moderate  size  it  will  be  found 
convenient  to  build  the  book  room  about 
16  feet  high  to  cover  two  stories  of  book- 
cases and  wholly  independent  of  the  level 
of  the  second  floor  of  the  main  building. 

Extension 

To  meet  the  needs  of  a  rapidly  growing 
library  it  is  important  at  the  beginning 
to  fix  the  lines  of  extension. 


A  building  with  a  front  of  two  rooms 
and  a  passage  between  may  add  a  third 
room  at  the  rear,  and  at  a  later  stage, 
add  a  second  building  behind  the  first  and 
parallel  to  it,  the  two  being  connected  by 
the  room  first  added. 

Open  court 

When  a  library  is  so  large  that  one 
book  room  is  not  enough,  two  such  rooms 
may  be  built  to  the  rear,  one  from  each 
end  of  the  building  with  open  space  be- 
tween, and  these  two  wings  may  be  car- 
ried back  equally  and  joined  at  the  back 
by  another  building,  thus  completing  the 
square  around  an  open  court. 

This  gives  wide  interior  space  for  light 
and  air,  or  grass  and  flowers.  Such  is 
the  plan  of  the  Boston  Public  and  Prince- 
ton University  libraries.  It  will  be  the 
same  in  Minneapolis  when  that  library  is 
complete.  In  the  library  at  Newark, 
N.  J.,  the  central  court  is  roofed  over 
with  glass  becoming  a  stairway  court  with 
surrounding  galleries  opening  on  all 
rooms.  In  Columbia  University,  New 
York,  as  in  the  British  Museum,  the  center 
is  a  great  reading  room  capped  by  a 
dome  high  above  the  surrounding  roofs 
and  lighted  by  great  clerestory  windows. 

If  the  street  front  is  very  long  there 
may  be  three  extensions  to  the  rear, 
one  opposite  the  center  and  one  from 
each  end,  leaving  two  open  courts  as 
in  the  New  York  Public  Library;  and  this 
general  scheme  may  be  repeated  and  car- 
ried still  farther  back  leaving  four  open 
courts  as  in  the  Library  of  Congress.  This 
plan  can  be  extended  as  far  as  space  can 
be  provided. 

When  the  general  plan  of  the  large 
building  is  fixed,  passages  will  be  intro- 
duced, parallel  to  the  front  and  sides,  and 
departments  will  be  located  as  may  be 
judged  most  convenient,  always  having 
regard  to  the  convenience  of  the  patrons 
of  each  department  in  finding  ready  access 
10  the  books  they  need  and  providing  for 
supervision  and  attendance  at  least  cost 
of  time,  effort  and  money.  Extravagance 
in  library  building  is  not  so  often  found 


in  lavish  ornament  as  in  that  unfortunate 
arrangement  of  departments  which  re- 
quires three  attendants  to  do  the  work  of 
one  or  two. 

Light 

Natural  light  should  be  secured  if  possi- 
ble for  every  room.  Windows  should  be 
frequent  and  extend  well  up  toward  the 
ceiling  terminating  in  a  straight  line  so  as 
to  afford  large  supply  of  light  from  the 
top.  Windows  like  those  in  an  ordinary 
house  or  office  building,  coming  within  two 
or  three  feet  of  the  floor  are  more  satisfac- 
tory both  for  inside  and  outside  appear- 
ance than  those  which  leave  a  high  blank 
wall  beneath  them.  From  the  street  a 
blank  wall  has  a  prison-like  effect;  on  the 
inside  it  cuts  off  communication  with  the 
rest  of  the  world  and  the  impression  is 
unpleasant.  The  proper  object  of  library 
windows  six  or  eight  feet  above  the  floor 
is  to  allow  unbroken  wall  space  for  book 
shelves  beneath  them.  There  is  no  seri- 
ous objection  to  this  at  the  back  or  some- 
times at  the  sides  of  the  house  where  the 
windows  are  not  conspicuous  from  the 
street,  but  every  room  of  any  size,  if  it  is 
next  to  the  outer  wall,  should  have  win- 
dows to  look  out  of. 

A  book  room  at  the  back  of  a  building 
may  secure  excellent  light  from  side  win- 
dows eight  feet  above  the  floor  with  lower 
windows  at  the  back. 

The  lighting  of  large  interior  rooms  is 
often  a  difficult  problem.  Light  will  not 
penetrate  to  advantage  more  than  30  feet. 
Skylights,  domes  and  clerestory  windows 
are  used.  In  the  case  of  the  dome  or 
clerestory  the  room  to  be  lighted  must  be 
higher  than  those  immediately  surround- 
ing it.  The  clerestory  plan  with  upright 
windows  is  most  satisfactory  when  avail- 
able, being  cheaper  and  giving  better 
security  against  the  weather  than  the  sky- 
light. In  a  large  building'  with  interior 
courts,  the  lower  story  of* the  court  is 
sometimes  covered  with  a  skylight  and 
used  as  a  room.  This  appears  in  the 
plans  for  the  New  York  Public  Library. 
Skylights  must  be  constructed  with  special 
care  as  a  protection  against  the  weather. 


The  problem  of  light  is  peculiarly  diffi- 
cult in  the  crowded  blocks  of  cities.  A 
library  front  may  sometimes  touch  the 
walls  of  adjoining  buildings  so  that  light 
can  enter  only  from  the  front  and  rear. 
If  extending  more  than  40  feet  back  from 
the  street,  it  will  often  be  necessary  to 
narrow  the  rest  of  the  building  so  as  to 
leave  open  spaces  on  each  side,  or  to  intro- 
duce a  little  light  by  the  device  of  light 
wells.  Occasionally  a  large  city  library  is 
found  on  the  upper  floors  of  an  office  build- 
ing, where  light  and  air  are  better  than 
below,  and  the  cost  of  accommodation  is 
less.  The  use  of  elevators  makes  this 
feasible. 

Shelving 

The  general  scheme  of  book  shelves 
should  be  fixed  before  the  plan  of  the 
building  is  drawn.  Otherwise  the  space 
for  books  can  not  be  determined  and  seri- 
ous mistakes  may  be  made.  Between  the 
two  extremes  of  open  wall  shelves  and 
the  close  stack  a  compromise  is  necessary. 
The  large  library  will  put  the  bulk  of  its 
books  in  a  stack  and  bring  a  considerable 
selection  of  the  best  books  into  an  open 
room.  The  small  library  will  begin  with 
books  along  the  walls  and  provide  cases 
for  additions  from  time  to  time  as  needed. 
Its  patrons  will  enjoy  at  first  the  generous 
spaces  of  the  open  room  without  an  array 
cf  empty  cases  to  offend  the  eye  and  cum- 
ber the  floor.  When  walls  are  covered 
v/ith  books  a  floor  case  will  be  introduced 
and  others  when  needed  will  be  placed  ac- 
cording to  plan,  till  at  last  the  floor  is  as 
full  as  it  was  meant  to  be,  and  the  base- 
ment beneath  having  served  for  a  time  to 
hold  the  overflow,  a  second  story  of  cases 
is  put  on  the  top  of  the  first.  This  process 
should  be  planned  in  advance  for  a  term 
of  20  years. 

For  public  access  passages  between 
cases  should  be  at  least  four  feet  wide. 
Cases  are  sometimes  set  on  radial  lines  so 
as  to  make  all  parts  directly  accessible 
and  bring  every  passage  under  super- 
vision from  the  center.  This  arrangement, 
specially  if  bounded  by  a  semi-circular 
wall,  is  expensive,  wasteful  of  space  and 


of  doubtful  value,  except  in  peculiar  con- 
ditions. It  is  not  adapted  to  further  ex- 
tension of  the  building.  Unfortunately 
the  passage  between  radial  cases  is  nar- 
rowest at  the  very  point  where  most  per- 
sons must  meet  and  pass.  On  any  other 
story  of  the  stack  above  or  below  the 
main  floor  the  peculiar  advantages  of 
radial  arrangement  disappear. 

Size  of  shelf 
For  ordinary  books  in  a  popular  library 
the  shelf  should  not  be  more  than  eight 
inches  wide  with  an  upright  space  of  ten 
inches.  Eight  shelves  of  this  height  with 
a  base  of  four  inches  and  crown  finish 
of  five  inches  will  fill  eight  feet  from  the 
floor  and  the  upper  shelf  may  be  reached 
at  a  height  of  81  inches  or  six  feet  nine 
inches.  Ordinary  shelves  should  not  ex- 
ceed three  feet  in  length.  A  length  of 
two  and  a  half  feet  is  preferred  by  many. 
A  shelf  more  than  three  feet  long  is  apt 
to  bend  under  the  weight  of  books..  For 
books  of  larger  size  a  limited  number  of 
shelves  with  12  inches  upright  space  and 
a  few  still  larger  should  be  provided.  The 
proportion  of  oversize  books  will  vary 
greatly  according  to  the  kind  of  library, 
a  college  or  scientific  collection  having 
many  more  than  the  circulating  library. 
Any  reference  room  will  contain  a  large 
number  of  such  books  and  its  shelves 
should  correspond.  Ledges  will  also  be 
desirable. 

Movable  shelves 
Much  attention  has  been  given  to  devices 
for  adjustment  of  shelves.  Some  of  these 
are  quite  ingenious  and  a  few  are  satisfac- 
tory. No  device  should  be  introduced  that 
will  seriously  break  the  smooth  surface  at 
the  side.  Notches,  cross  bars,  iron  horns 
or  hooks  or  ornamental  brackets  expose  the 
first  book  to  damage.  If  pins  are  used  to 
support  shelves  they  should  be  so  held  in 
their  places  that  they  cannot  fall  out. 
Heads  of  pins  or  bars  should  be  sunk  in  the 
wood  and  the  place  for  books  left,  as  near 
as  possible,  absolutely  smooth  on  all  sides. 
It  is  at  least  a  question  whether  the  im- 
portance of  making  shelves  adjustable  and 


absolutely  adjustable  has  not  been  greatly 
overrated.  As  a  fact  the  shelves  of  the 
circulating  library  are  very  seldom  ad- 
justed. They  may  have  all  the  usual  appli- 
ances provided  at  large  expense  but  there 
is  little  occasion  to  adjust  them  outside 
the  reference  room.  They  remain  as  they 
were  put  up.  It  is  probably  well  to  have 
the  second  and  third  shelf  from  the  floor 
movable  so  that  one  can  be  dropped  to  the 
bottom  and  two  spaces  left  where  there 
were  three  at  first.  But  all  other  shelves 
might  as  well  be  fixed  at  intervals  of  10 
inches  without  the  least  real  inconvenience 
and  the  cases  be  stronger  for  it  and  far 
cheaper.  A  perfectly  adjustable  shelf  is  in- 
teresting as  a  study  in  mechanics,  but  is 
practically  disappointing.  Its  very  perfec- 
tion is  a  snare  because  it  is  so  impossible 
to  set  it  true  without  a  spirit  level  and  a 
machinist.  All  shelves  in  a  reference  room 
should  be  adjustable.  Bound  magazines 
might  have  special  cases. 

Wood  or  iron  shelves 

Iron  shelf  construction  has  the  advantage 
of  lightness  and  strength,  filling  the  least 
space  and  admitting  light  and  air.  Where 
three  or  more  stories  of  cases  are  stacked 
one  upon  another  iron  is  a  necessity.  It  is 
also  most  durable. 

On  the  other  hand  iron  is  more  difficult 
to  get,  can  be  had  only  of  the  manufac- 
turers in  fixed  patterns,  and  costs  much 
more  than  any  wood,  even  oak,  unless 
polished,  paneled  or  carved  for  ornament. 
This  raises  the  question  whether  the  advan- 
tages named  are  really  important.  Few 
village  libraries  need  more  than  two  stories 
of  shelves  in  a  stack.  Though  iron  is  more 
durable  we  can  buy  two  sets  of  wooden 
shelves  for  the  cost  of  one  of  iron — and 
when  we  buy  the  second  set  will  know 
better  what  we  want. 

A  more  important  consideration,  to  my 
mind,  is  that  iron  is  not  so  well  adapted 
to  the  changing  conditions  of  a  growing 
library.     It  is  made  at  a  factory  and  must 


be  ordered  complete.  It  is  bolted  to  the 
floor  and  wall  at  fixed  intervals.  To  put 
all  shelving  in  position  at  first  is  to  lose 
the  advantage  of  a  gradual  accumulation 
of  cases. 

Wooden  cases  are  movable.  You  begin 
with  those  you  need  and  add  others  as  you 
have  more  books,  you  can  change  and  alter 
them  at  any  time  with  only  the  aid  of  the 
village  carpenter,  and  enjoy  the  wide  open 
spaces  till  the  time  comes  for  more  cases. 

Iron  with  all  its  ornaments  belongs  to  the 
shop.  It  is  not  the  furniture  you  prefer  in 
your  home.  The  item  of  cost  will  usually 
decide  the  question.  For  libraries  of  less 
than  30,000  volumes,  where  close  storage  is 
not  imperative,  the  advantage  is  with  wood. 

Miscellaneous    notes 

A  floor  of  hard  wood  is  good  enough  for 
most  libraries.  Wood  covered  with  corti- 
cene  or  linoleum  tends  to  insure  the  needed 
quiet.  Floors  of  tile,  marble  or  concrete 
are  very  noisy  and  should  have  strips  of 
carpet  or  rubber  laid  in  the  passages. 

On  the  walls  of  reading  rooms  it  is 
neither  necessary  nor  desirable  to  have  an 
ornamental  wainscot,  nor  indeed  any  wain- 
scot at  all.  Book  cases  will  cover  the 
lower  walls  and  books  are  the  best  orna- 
ment. 

Small  tables  for  four  are  preferred  in  a 
reading  room  to  long  common  tables.  They 
give  the  reader  an  agreeable  feeling  of 
privacy. 

To  allow  room  for  free  passing,  tables 
should  be  at  least  five  feet  distant  from 
other  tables  and  cases. 

Do  not  make  tables  too  high.  30  inches 
are  enough. 

Light  bent  wood  chairs  are  easy  to 
handle. 

Hot  water  gives  the  best  heat  and  incan- 
descent electric  lamps  give  the  best  light. 

Take  pains  to  secure  sufficient  ventila- 
tion. 

Windows  should  be  made  to  slide  up  and 
down,  not  to  swing  on  hinges  or  pivots. 


IN  ADOPTING  A  LIBRARY  PLAN 
BE  SURE 


1  That  the  best  use  of  the  location  is 
made  and  the  building  suited  to  the  con- 
stituency and  local  conditions. 

2  .That  there  is  room  within  the  walls 
for  all  the  books  the  library  now  has  or  is 
likely  to  have  in  20  years;  provide  the  first 
outfit  of  shelves  for  twice  the  number  of 
books  expected  at  the  end  of  one  year  and 
add  bookcases  as  needed,  leaving  always 
a  liberal  margin  of  empty  space  on  every 
shelf.  Plan  for  the  location  of  additional 
cases  for  20  years  with  due  consideration  of 
the  question  of  public  access. 

3  That  all  needed  departments  are  pro- 
vided   in    harmonious    relation    with    each 


other  and  placed  so  that  the  building  shall 
be  convenient  for  work  and  supervision 
and  serve  the  public  to  the  best  advantage 
at  least  cost 

4  That  the  estimated  cost  is  well  within 
the  limit  named,  for  new  objects  of  expense 
are  certain  to  appear  during  the  process  of 
building  and  debt  must  not  be  thought  of. 

Make  the  building  also  neat  and  beautiful, 
for  it  is  to  be  the  abiding  place  of  all  that 
is  best  in  human  thought  and  experience 
and  is  to  be  a  home  in  which  all  inquiring 
souls  are  to  be  welcomed.  Since  the  people 
are  to  be  guests  let  the  place  of  their  recep- 
tion be  worthy  of  its  purpose. 


k 


